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A simple water-saving system will be made available at low cost to Afghan farmers in the near future to help them efficiently irrigate farmland and boost yields.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated US$1.5 to introduce the system in Afghanistan.
"Hydroflumes save all of the water that normally transits through secondary earth canals where up to 30 percent is lost through seepage and line theft," Loren Staddard, director of USAID's alternative development and agriculture project in Kabul, told IRIN.
The system is designed to increase domestic crop production through the efficient distribution of water to crops alone - not weeds and wasteland, and can be hooked up to canals or deep wells.
Afghanistan has lost much of its irrigation infrastructure in armed conflicts over the past three decades. Recurrent natural disasters, mostly drought, have also caused extensive damage to agriculture, the prime source of income for most Afghans.
"Scarcity of water is our biggest problem," said Amanullah, a farmer in southern Kandahar Province.
The country lost 80 percent of its rain-fed agriculture because of a severe drought in 2008 and many farming households were pushed into acute food insecurity as a result.
What is a hydroflume?
It is a collapsible plastic tube - available in different sizes - with holes at set intervals to feed water to furrows.
It prevents water loss, directly irrigates targeted crops and avoids watering non-fertile soil.
The flume - sometimes called a drip irrigation system - is also easy to use. It can be rolled out at the end of the field, perpendicular to the furrows and can be rolled up again like a giant fire hose and kept for future use.
It is not clear where USAID intends to source the hydroflumes, but information on how they work and pictures can be accessed via the website of an Iranian manufacturer/distributor. (Picture)
"It requires a turnout box for the canal water to flow into, largely to provide a place to mount to a pipe fitting to connect the fluming [collapsible plastic tube] to the water source canal," Staddard said.
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| Hydroflumes could improve productivity, but how farmers access and use it will be a challenge, say officials |
Can farmers afford it?
USAID has currently set up different kinds of hydroflume for demonstration and training purposes at the Agriculture Ministry’s Badam Bagh research centre in Kabul.
Prices per metre of the system vary from US$1-5 depending on the size and strength of the flume.
"USAID will invest about $1.5 million in this technology, helping to make it commercially and sustainably available for the small, medium and large farmers of Afghanistan," Staddard said.
Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) said the technology could improve productivity, but how rural farming communities access and use it will be a challenge.
"Most of our farmers are illiterate and uneasy about using new technology," Pir Mohammad Aziz, deputy irrigation minister of the MAIL, told IRIN.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
